Tuesday, 13th June 2023, saw the Legal 500 travelling to beautiful Madrid to oversee the launch of the inaugural edition of the GC Summit Spain 2023 at the Hyatt Centric Gran Via Madrid. The event saw a full room of in-house in attendance, together with the four partners: Ambar Partners, CMS Albi\u00f1ana y Su\u00e1rez de Lezo, Herbert Smith Freehills and Squire Patton Boggs.<\/p>\n
The event kicked off with a welcome address by Sara Maggi, The Legal 500\u2019s editorial lead for the Summit, followed by keynote speaker Lucia Sanchez-Oca\u00f1a Leyun \u2014 European chief risk and compliance director, EU DPO, Miembro de la junta directiva de ASCOM \u2014 who set the right tone for the day, providing some inspirational concepts and insights on the breadth of challenges and opportunities in-house counsel in Spain deal with.<\/p>\n
The first session was moderated by CMS: \u2018The growing digital legislation and its influence on the innovation and transformation processes of companies\u2019. The panel was joined by experts in AI, use of data and electronic commerce, and in clients and customers\u2019 behaviour. Jaime Bello, counsel of Industrial and digital at CMS, moderated this panel of experts. Speakers included: Javier Mart\u00ednez de Aguirre, coordinador del departamento de consultivo y contrataci\u00f3n at SegurCaixa Adeslas; Jos\u00e9 Mar\u00eda Balboa Toribio, general legal and compliance counsel Espa\u00f1a y Latinoam\u00e9rica at Inetum; Amalia Del Val, head of legal at Savana; and Santiago Gonz\u00e1lez P\u00e9rez, director del departamento legal laboral at American Express.<\/p>\n
Herbert Smith Freehills moderated the second panel of the day. Miguel Ria\u00f1o, president of HSF Spain, was joined by Jos\u00e9 Julio Figueroa, director general de Area Asesoria Juridica at Acciona; \u00c1ngel Mart\u00edn, senior advisor at Carbonia Investments; and Diego Santacruz, director legal at LCS Abogados. This panel focused on the strategic role of litigation funding analysing three key aspects: pros and cons, financial accounting considerations, and the role of legal advisors. The panellists, prominent figures in litigation funding at the national and international levels, provided valuable insights to the highly engaged audience.<\/p>\n
After a refreshing coffee break, the audience pleasantly welcomed the next session, sponsored by Squire Patton Boggs, focused on \u2018navigating the intersection between M&A transactions and the legal frameworks surrounding non-compete clauses\u2019. The panel was moderated by Teresa Zueco, partner at Squire Patton Boggs. Speakers included Ana Garc\u00eda, general counsel and global corporate secretary at Kutxabank; Ana Mondedeu, associate general counsel at Insud Pharma; Carlos E. Landazabal Angeli, compliance and data privacy officer EMEA, at Canadian Solar; Luc\u00eda Felgueroso, head of wholesale banking legal in Spain and Portugal at ING.<\/p>\n
The final panel of the day, moderated by Ambar Partners Co-CEO Manuel Deo, explored \u2018the direction of an international legal consultancy during crisis and the management of decentralised teams\u2019, both from a national and international perspective. Attendees benefitted from the diverse range of views of the panellists, which included: Isabela Perez Nivela, vice president legal strategy and corporate functions, Coca-Cola European Partners; Fernando Ortega de Santa Maria, general counsel y secretario de administraci\u00f3n, Siemens; Eduardo Ruiz Montoya, vice president and deputy general counsel, International legal EMEA, APJ, Latam at Hewlett Packard Enterprise; Javier Serrada, director legal, Acciona Infraestructuras; Jos\u00e9 Luis Donoso Parrado, general counsel at Iridium; and Jos\u00e9 Mar\u00eda Miralles, general counsel at Cellnex.<\/span><\/p>\n After such a brilliant and thought-provoking set of sessions, the attendees gathered for a drinks and canap\u00e9s reception. The Legal 500 was delighted to host the GC Summit Spain 2023 and thrilled with the positive turnout and insightful discussions that took place. We look forward to being back in Madrid soon!<\/p>\n